Trial results for a study on stroke rehabilitation were posted on ClinicalTrials.gov on 2025-07-29, involving 60 participants.
Background
Stroke, a cerebrovascular disorder, often leads to impaired function in the arms and legs, necessitating rehabilitation. Current approaches focus on restoring motor function, and there is ongoing research into optimizing these interventions. This study aimed to investigate the potential benefits of adding aerobic exercise to standard rehabilitation practices for stroke recovery, as well as to assess the cost-effectiveness of these interventions.
Trial design
This completed study, designated as Phase NA, enrolled 60 participants with conditions including Stroke, Cerebrovascular Disorders, Brain Diseases, Central Nervous System Diseases, and Nervous System Diseases. The trial investigated whether aerobic exercise improves the participant's ability to recover function in the arm and leg affected by stroke, and also aimed to calculate the cost-effectiveness of the rehabilitation interventions. Participants were assigned to either an 'Aerobic Exercise & Repetitive Task Practice' group or an 'Upper Extremity Repetitive Task Practice Only' group.
Key results
The trial reported several key measurements using the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), a score on a scale, for both intervention groups:
- For the 'Aerobic Exercise & Repetitive Task Practice' group:
- Mean FMA score of 32.5 (Standard Deviation 16.6).
- Mean FMA score of 44.0 (Standard Deviation 11.8).
- Mean FMA score of 44.6 (Standard Deviation 12.5).
- Mean FMA score of 44.6 (Standard Deviation 12.5).
- Mean FMA score of 45.1 (Standard Deviation 12.8).
- Mean FMA score of 44.8 (Standard Deviation 12.9).
- For the 'Upper Extremity Repetitive Task Practice Only' group:
- Mean FMA score of 32.8 (Standard Deviation 18.6).
- Mean FMA score of 41.2 (Standard Deviation 13.4).
- Mean FMA score of 42.1 (Standard Deviation 13.5).
- Mean FMA score of 42.1 (Standard Deviation 13.5).
- Mean FMA score of 43.7 (Standard Deviation 14.3).
- Mean FMA score of 46.8 (Standard Deviation 13.6).
What this means
The posted results provide detailed Fugl-Meyer Assessment scores for participants undergoing stroke rehabilitation. The data illustrates the mean functional recovery scores over time for both the group receiving aerobic exercise in addition to repetitive task practice and the group receiving only repetitive task practice. While specific mean scores and standard deviations are provided for each measurement point, the absence of comparative analyses or statistical significance values means that definitive conclusions regarding the comparative efficacy of adding aerobic exercise cannot be drawn solely from these raw measurements. These findings contribute to the overall understanding of functional outcomes in stroke rehabilitation.
Source
The information regarding these trial results was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a public database of clinical studies. The results for the study NCT03819764, titled 'Cost-effectiveness of Forced Aerobic Exercise for Stroke Rehabilitation', were posted on 2025-07-29 on clinicaltrials.gov.